(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to measurement methods and is directed more particularly to a method for determining damping coefficients of viscous dampers.
(2) Description of Prior Art
The measurement of system mass, damping, and stiffness coefficients is a classical engineering problem that has been addressed by a number of researchers. Their methods typically consist of measuring a frequency response function (transfer function) of a system and then curve fitting a multidegree of freedom model to the magnitude and phase angle of the system response. During this approximation process, the system parameters are identified. The measurement of the mass and stiffness coefficients is usually straightforward. The inclusion of damping into a system produces a bounded complex system response, and thus the extraction of these damping characteristics is more complicated. Since the damping coefficients are usually small in magnitude compared with the system stiffness and mass parameters, the estimation (or measurement) of the damping coefficients frequently has been inaccurate.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method by which damping coefficients may be determined accurately.